Thursday, April 5, 2012

It started off as a normal morning with extraordinary amounts of laundry to fold and dishes to wash. I had my to do list and I garnished it with two or three knitting projects I allow myself to indulge in during naptime. And of course, since Easter is right around the corner, I carved in time for some Easter Egg coloring, which my little Bunny loved.

We colored the eggs, and used the magic crayon on them, and Bunny learned the hard way that you can't throw them into the basket. They came out beautifully and she was very proud of our work.

And then, I looked around at the cups of dye and I just couldn't bring myself to throw it all away! What a waste! So I looked online and found a way to use it--dyeing my wool yarn. Here's the tutorial if you're interested in trying it yourself. I'm not going to give you all the scientific details here since she explains it so well.

THUS began a project that didn't take much time for what it was worth, but did take an hour or so of time out of my already busy day. But it was well worth it.

I wanted striping yarn, so I separated a skein of Lion's Brand Fishermen's wool into even swatches, knotting each one together, but keeping the skein whole.

Then, I soaked the wool in 1 part vinegar, 4 parts water--but just enough to make the wool damp throughout, not dripping. It's important that it is ALL damp--that there are no dry parts.

I put the sections in bowls, (all connected--which was a bit confusing, since I wanted to keep them in rainbow order for my striping) and then, I covered them with plastic wrap--the stick and seal kind-- and microwaved them in 3 minute increments with 5 minute breaks in between until the water ran clear.

I pulled the wrap off and they were VERY hot, but the water was clear! I wanted to transport them to the tub without burning myself so I put them in a bowl of hot water first.

Per the instructions on the tutorial, I knew that the colors were set since they didn't run at all when I put them in the water. I couldn't believe it worked just as she'd prescribed!

I let it soak in the bathtub in cold water for 10 minutes or so to rinse the vinegar out.

Then I pressed it between two towels to get the water all out--carefully keeping the sections of my long piece of yarn in order so as not to cause tangling problems later on.

Then, I put it in my basement and let it dry on my drying rack.

My house smelled like wet sheep and vinegar for at least 12 hours, and my hands were dyed for awhile, but it was a small price to pay.

Now, I'm rolling the whole thing into one, big ball of yarn! This was so fun, and Fishermen's wool is pretty inexpensive if you buy it at Hobby Lobby or Michael's with a coupon that I think I might invest in this yarn ball winder from knitpicks.com because I'll DEFINITELY be doing this again!

Monday, April 2, 2012

I haven't worn Bunny in a LONG time. In fact, it had been nearly a year since I'd had the need to wear her until the other day when she was inconsolable and feeling under the weather. I suddenly had the instinct to nurse her (which I can't do because she's been weaned for a couple of months now) and wear her like I did when she was a fussy infant, so on a whim I stuck her in my trusty Moby. She liked it. She sort of struggled against the confinement but when I asked her if she wanted to get down, she did not. It was cute. I forgot how much I LOVED having Bunny in the Moby, wrapped snuggly and safely against me.

A day or two after these photos were taken, I babysat a friend's 5 month old and wore him to calm him down and Bunny noticed. So, a week or so later, when I saw her sleeping with her favorite stuffed toys under her shirt (I'm proud to say that her favorites are some that I made for her!) I knew exactly why she was doing it! So cute!!!

Zulily.com

About Me

I'm an amateur seamstress, a pretty decent knitter, and also a cloth diapering, baby wearing, breastfeeding, and baby food making mom to a creative, loving, independent, potty-trained, "I'll do it myself" four year old girl and a happy, chunky, adorable new baby boy who is quickly stealing all of our hearts. In addition to being a part time stay-at-home-mom, I'm a part time Spanish teacher so sometimes I feel like a JILL of all trades :-D.

Some inspiration from Max Lucado

"You see, he didn't have to go. He had a choice. He could have stayed. He could have kept his mouth shut. He could have ignored the call or at least postponed it. And had he chosen to stay, who would've known? Who would have blamed him? "He could have come back as a man in another era when society wasn't so volatile, when religion wasn't so stale, when people would listen better. "He could have come back when crosses were out of style. "But his heart wouldn't let him. If there was hesitation on the part of his humanity, it was overcome by the compassion of his divinity. His divinity heard the voices. His divinity heard the hopeless cries of the poor, the bitter accusations of the abandoned, the dangling despair of those who are trying to save themselves. "And you can be sure of one thing. Among the voices that found their way into that carpentry shop in Nazareth was your voice. Your silent prayers uttered on tearstained pillows were heard before they were said. Your deepest questions about death and eternity were answered before they were asked. And your direst need, your need for a Savior, was met before you ever sinned. " -Max Lucado